Howl Your Appellations

People of Here

Lissana Mons

Do these boys not know that they can leave? Even the cursed Weres can leave it's just that the Forest Weres might not tolerate it, especially if it's a contagious or dangerous curse. Some curses are barely noticeable, I would know. Now these two, aren't even cursed! They'll be safer in the forest where Weres of their kind can take them in and make them a part of their pack, and if they don't want them, they're always welcome in my pack! Mine's already got Weres that aren't wolves, what's two more?

"Hey, Sana, can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Oh, uh, did I...what's wrong? Oh, it's something Goa shouldn't hear? Alright! Stop tugging!"

"Ben, Sana! Where are you two going?" I'd like to know to Benan...his head is so round from behind, even though his hair's covering most of his body, I can make out his lollipop-shaped head.

"Stay there for a bit, Goa! I have something to ask Sana, I'll tell you about it later!"

"Oh, okay then. Just don't stay where I can't catch up to you guys. There might still be beasts out here, I'm not that strong to fight them yet!"

"I know! So just sit and wait there!"

Hmm, these boys seem close but something feels a bit off about them, not in a bad way, but my guts' telling me, that these two are two completely different Weres, I'm not sure which though but I can definitely tell that they smell different.

"Maybe here's far enough but close enough? What do you think,Sana? Is Goa following us?" He definitely is.

"Yep. I can get us to higher ground if you want. We can chat on top of those boulders over there. I doubt he'll hear what we're saying there." If he were a bit older or trained, he'd hear voices from miles away, but that boy isn't me, and so is this boy, "You guys can't hear that good, right?"

"We can sure try but no we can't."

"Okay, good. Come on, climb on my back." I haven't given a piggyback ride to a kid in ages! We barely have kids in our packs, the last time I remember having fun with other kids was in our old town. They had things like schools there and there'd be tons of kids my ages. That's where Nike met Imus too! That was decades and decades again, sometimes I just want to go back and warn everyone, tell them it's not worth it.

"Um, Sana? Are we gonna move or what? You've been spacing out again. You space out a lot for someone who's seemingly dumb."

Did he just call me "seemingly" dumb?! People just acknowledge me as being plainly dumb, that's a new one!

"I've got stuff in my brain that I need to think about or else I'll be boring. You gotta have a little bit of stuff in there to woo the ladies. Hyup!"

"Are ladies and boobs all you think about!? Perv!"

I gotta be careful, I might hit his little round head on one of the stalactites, "Watch your head, Ben."

"Okay! Agh! That was close!"

"I told you to be careful, didn't I? Also, to answer your question, I also like guys but not as much as girls I guess. Guys are alright...hmm, I've been around so many guys, and it's just like. I wanna fight them, and when I look at girls, I wanna fight some of them too I guess. Bottom-line is, I'm great with both!"

"Uh-huh, I'm sure..."

"Here's our stop! That flattest b***h in the area!"

"Don't call the stalagmite that you, i***t! You're lost because you don't respect the caves!"

"!!! You're right! I was respectful when I came here before, I managed to get help then. Why aren't there water nymphs around here?"

"Huh? Water nymphs? Those guys live way below the caves, probably close to the actual bottom of the caves, but they come to visit sometimes with their powers. Those guys aren't really friendly, and we don't understand what they're saying anyway so we don't know about them much."

"Hmm, my friend's a Water nymph though! But you're right, I have no idea what she's saying most of the time."

"What!? How'd you manage to do that?! Those guys are very elusive! I'm getting more suspicious of you the more you talk."

Colleh is kinda confusing to understand but she's nice, her kind's just being careful. They have their own thing going on just like any Lunar being. Plus Neel was there...huh !? Why can't say his name out loud?

"Oi, what's wrong? I didn't tell you to shut up completely. Don't beat yourself over it!"

"Aghh! It's not that! I can't say my friend's name! It's pissing me off!"

Why can't I say his name? It's not like it'll reveal that he's a Mer Were! I just want to say my friend's name!

"Don't force yourself! That happens sometimes...when it poses too much 'trouble' the appellation becomes impossible to say. Sometimes we understand it, sometimes we don't, so don't bother. Ah! What are you doing!??! You can't write it either! Do you think the system's that easy to manipulate?! Ah...

I didn't mean to make you cry. The appellation must be important to you."

"It's more than just his appellation! He's a great guy that's only occasionally annoying!"

"Well there you have it, the appellation isn't as significant as the person himself. Do you understand? It's not all bad, at least we still get to talk about some aspects of them."

"How do you know about these things?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about..."

Ah, I know this feeling. He's lost someone too, huh? It's nothing new, when you become a Were, it's expected that you'll lose some of the ones you hold so dear. We expect it, and yet we still mourn and grieve and cry because despite being strong, nothing can prepare us for the loss of our loved ones. We're Weres! We're supposed to live longer than humans and animals, but look at us now. Aren't we just pitiable?

"Hey, you can stop hugging me now, I can't talk..."

"Oh! Sorry, old habits!"

"It's fine, I just want to tell you the whole truth about Goa and I. It's no secret, but there are things that I don't want Goa to hear. I just want to hear what you think, help me make a decision."

The truth behind the two of them? I thought they were just kids of cursed Weres. Of all the people to ask for advice it had to be me, Nike and Imus were the ones who mostly made the big decisions and I was happy just being there with them. Now...they're not here, and there's someone who needs real insights. It'll be hard but I have no choice, I want to help them so I'll give them the best insights I can think of!

"Okay."

"Thanks, Sana.

The first thing you need to know is that I'm not Goa's real brother. We're not even closely related through the groups here because I was apparently living on the outside world too. Let me tell you a short story about how we met and why I'll never leave his side no matter what."

»—————————–Flashback

Three years ago, I woke up in these caves, not knowing how I got here and who I was before I got here. I have bits of my memories from who I was in the city but none of them seem happy or exciting. "I was given a chance for a new life." I thought to myself, and decided to stay positive, I never thought about going back and finding out who I was because all of the memories of the past me always seemed like I was hurting. I know I decided to go to the forests but what had happened between that and moment I woke up in these caves? I couldn't remember on my own.

Eventually, I managed to find a few Weres that were living here, they were 'cursed' and were banished from the world, and I felt that I was just like them so I managed to fit in right away. The people here don't discriminate, whatever curse you have, we'll accept you, but you have to know how dangerous your curse is to others and to yourself, otherwise we won't know how to approach you. It was a painful life but also one that is supportive and nurturing.

A few days after I'd joined one of the settlements, we just called ourselves 'People of Here', uncreative I know but that's what we were, we lived here and were still people for the most part. A family took me in, there were four of us: Solly, Stray, Preston, and me. Solly and Preston were a couple and Stray was their kid. They wanted an older brother for him and thought I'd be perfect. They were both Deer Weres, so they needed a Were like me to protect them. I took us a bit to figure out what kind of Were I was, I wasn't even sure I was one until they pointed out that I had a 'scar', three slashes, running down my spine. I haven't seen myself in full form yet, but I know I'm definitely a predator, they said I might even be a Jaguar Were. Which they say is rare nowadays, they're known to be very aggressive and blood-thirsty.

For Deer Weres, their initiation is a bit tamer, but the trust is still the most important factor. All that needs to be done is to prick a finger on one of the antlers of a Deer Were and you'll become one.It's still considered as a "Trust Scar'' for them too, even if the prick doesn't leave a scar. They say children of Weres have a higher chance of becoming a Were like their parents and there are even chances when they're born already being a Were but that is seriously, extremely rare. I know you probably know this already since you're a Were too but I'm just creating a nice context.

Stray was four when we met and she had her trust scar at the age of six, I thought that's pretty young considering that I'm as new as a Were as she was, only she's six and I'm...well I'm not so sure. I'm older than Goa but younger than you but we're Weres so what's the point of counting anymore! Ahem, anyway, back to my story.

I loved being with the three of them, and it felt good being part of a family, it felt nice being a part of something, to me at least. But Soll and Pres knew they didn't have much time, both of their curses were from the faes, and they won't know what will happen to them in the end...some of the people here don't even deserve their curses, for most of them, they just had the worst luck. I felt angry when I found out about it at first, I thought, "What about Stray, then?! Why did you have to involve her in this?!" I didn't understand how they could do that to a child, to make a child, love the child with all their hearts when they know they're going to die anyway without the chance of ever seeing them grow up and return the love to you.

I was frustrated but deep down I was devastated about how little time they had with each other. If I hadn't come into their lives, they would have chosen another capable Were to watch Stray, but I had the best luck and met them. Where do you think the story's going?

We lived peacefully for a while, we helped with the settlement a lot, collected berries and there was even this wanderer that told us that she'd find a way to cure everybody, she was looking for people to reseach with her but my goal was to stay with my family and help out as much as I can. I learned how to fight from Pres, with is really weird considering that I'm a predator Were and he's a prey but he was good, and he feed us adequately everyday, until the day we were all f****d.